The 10 Best DC Comics Animated Films

As the DCEU picks up speed and catches up with the MCU - especially in the billionaires club - it's easy to forget that DC has been producing the best animated films since forever. While these flicks might not get the same level of coverage as Batfleck or Donner's Superman, they're just as good - if not better than the live-action movies at times. There have been numerous releases over the years, so it's a little hard to keep track of all of them. In order to help you, though, we've narrowed down the 10 best and compiled a handy list to show them all off. You should be able to recognize more than a few of them, while the other more obscure ones can be added to the must-watch pile if you haven't done so yet. Also, for the purpose of this article, we're excluding The LEGO Batman Movie and other brick-inspired animated features since they're technically part of the LEGOverse, and that's a discussion for another day. As always, we welcome your honest feedback. If you agree or disagree with our choices, please let us know in the comments section below. With that out of the way, let's not waste any more time with formalities and get to the good stuff. Here we go… 10) Teen Titans: The Judas Contract Released only this year, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is the newest title on this list, but its place is entirely merited. As our fellow colleague Eric Joseph said in his review of the film, it's "a tremendous blend of comedy, drama and tragedy." While many might bemoan how it drifted away from the source material in places, it's still an intensely deep and emotional adventure. In fact, the ending brought tears to our eyes much the same way that Batman Returns did when we thought that Selina had died. How heartbreaking to even think of it! When even Damian Wayne is tolerable in a movie, you must know that it has to be good. Chuck Deathstroke, Nightwing, and the rest of the Teen Titans into the mix and it's the recipe for a terrific DC adventure. In addition, the Kevin Smith cameo was pretty dope and nicely done. 9) Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker Be honest: when Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker was announced, you thought it was a cash-in on the wildly successful animated series by including the Bat's most iconic villain, the Clown Prince of Crime. We know that we stupidly believed the same, too. Yet, this futuristic Batflick surprised us all, by challenging the existing mythos and making the Joker even more despicable than we could've ever imagined. The story was a true revelation, and a further reminder that Paul Dini is one of the greatest creative minds that DC has ever had. Seriously, he has the Midas touch. Lest we forget, this film also attracted a barrage of controversy, due to its violence and adult material. This resulted in two cuts being produced to appease the uptight suits and paranoid parents. The uncut version is still high in demand, though, and remains a must-have collector's item for any fan of Batman Beyond. 8) Superman: Doomsday Yeah, there were some significant differences to The Death of Superman, but Superman: Doomsday still shines as the best Man of Steel animated feature. After all, it had a menacing Lex Luthor as one of the prime antagonists, and not Jesse Zuckerberg Eisenberg doing his best Riddler impersonations. Where the film really sparked to life though was in its depiction of Supes being the ultimate symbol of hope. We felt the loss when he died, and we knew that he was a hero bigger than anyone could ever be. It established him as the beacon of light, the true bastion of justice. Let's hope that the DCEU took some notes from Superman: Doomsday and applied them to his inevitable return in Justice League. Mullet or not, we just want our heroic Superman back in blue. 7) Batman: Assault On Arkham Despite its title, Batman: Assault on Arkham was actually more of a Suicide Squad film than a Batman one. But it's still a far better Task Force X movie than 2016's Suicide Squad was. At least the Joker didn't suck in this adaptation. Speaking of the movie, it's difficult to fathom why David Ayer didn't write a script similar to this story. It has everything that you'd want from the Squad and actually managed to introduce several threats into the equation, rather than the hula-dancing witch and her Mortal Kombat: Annihilation-inspired CGI brother. Filled with a host of bad guys doing bad things, Batman: Assault on Arkham pulled no punches and knew exactly what it was. It's simply the Suicide Squad movie that we deserved and needed. 6) Wonder Woman There are many people who'll say 2009's Wonder Woman animated film was better than Patty Jenkins' recent live-action adaptation of Diana Prince. While we'll have to agree to disagree on that one, we will say that this particular version contained a better origin story. Loosely based on George Pérez's "Gods and Monsters" arc, Wonder Woman was voiced by Keri Russell (remember her?) and Steve Trevor by Nathan Fillion (hell yeah!) here, with Alfred Molina providing the booming voice for Ares. It was an action-heavy affair, but with more than enough riveting narrative to keep us invested and coming back time and time again. For those who loved Jenkins' film but haven't seen this animated feature yet, do yourself a favor and check it out. You'll fall in love with Diana and Steve all over again. 5) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns How do you adapt Frank Miller's iconic Caped Crusader tale without ruining it? Ask director Jay Oliva, who split The Dark Knight Returns into two parts, which are equally sensational, and pays the ultimate tribute to this legendary story. Choosing to stick as close as possible to the source material, including Miller and Klaus Janson's art style, this double-threat feature is one of the most accurate depictions of comic book storylines that you'll ever encounter. In fact, it's for this reason alone that most fans cite this as one of their favorite Bat outings, period. Fans knew what they wanted, and Oliva certainly delivered exactly that. Featuring the voice talents of Peter Weller, Ariel Winter, and Michael Emerson, this is an all-star project that possesses all the quality that you expect from a DC production. It's 148 minutes of Old Man Wayne action. How can you not enjoy that?! 4) Justice League: War If you're hyped for the Justice League, it'll be a good idea to pick up Geoff Johns' Justice League: Origin and then watch Justice League: War, which is inspired by the aforementioned comic book storyline. It's the modern reimagining of how everyone's favorite heroes came together, like that Beatles song says. Seeing Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Cyborg, Flash and Shazam (sorry, Aquaman, you missed the boat) team up to take down Darkseid and his Parademons never gets old. There's so much action, adventure, and fun in 79 minutes that you wonder why Zack Snyder didn't just cut and paste this as a template for his own JL story. There are a lot of Justice League animated features out there, but you'll be hard-pressed to find one that tells such a solid origin story like Justice League: War does. It's a remarkable adaptation, and a necessary addition to your DVD/Blu-ray collection. 3) Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox The mere mention of the word "Multiverse" can send your head into a spin. Let's be honest: all these multiple Earths and alternate characters are confusing and you need an encyclopedia to keep track of all these developments and changes. Amazingly, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox took such a mindboggling concept and summarized it perfectly in 81 minutes. It's fair to say that this version of the story is simpler to grasp than Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert's arc - and we're all for simplicity here. It was an extremely risky move to adapt this tale, purely because of the complexity of it. But the risk paid off at the end, and it's definitely our favorite Multiverse story to date. Also, seeing the alternate Batman (Thomas Wayne) and Joker (Martha Wayne) in an animated film is truly something for the ages. Let's hope it happens in the live-action DCEU, too. 2) Batman: Under The Red Hood We credit Batman: Under the Red Hood as the medium that made Jason Todd cool. While Judd Winick's comic storyline was fantastic in its own right, it was this feature that made us give a damn about the second Boy Wonder and his resurrection. To many people, it was also their first introduction to Red Hood, and it ticked all the boxes in getting us up to speed with his history. From his violent and brutal methods as Robin to his untimely death, it showed us how Jason ended up being Bruce's greatest failure. Also, who could ever forget the emotional exchange between Batman and the Red Hood? Right in the feels, man… Even though most people recall Jensen Ackles's outstanding voice performance as the Red Hood, the real star of the show was Wade Williams' Black Mask. He left a distinct mark on the character and we'll always remember his voice when we read anything involving Roman Sionis. 1) Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm Was there any other choice for #1 than this movie? We've already written an extensive article listing why it's not just the greatest animated feature, but possibly the best DC film of all-time, so we're just going to reiterate it here again: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is every Dark Knight fan's biggest dream come true. From the tragic love story between Bruce and Andrea to the unique take on the Joker's origin, this was an exquisite action-packed event that scintillated from beginning to end. It captured the very heart and soul of the animated series and harnessed it into a full-fledged feature that no one anticipated to become as legendary as it has. What's even more remarkable is that it's 24 years old this year, but still holds up and feels fresh to this day. Besides the Disney classics, how many other animated works can you say the same about? This is one gem that needs to be locked up nice and safe in the Warner Bros. vault. That does it for our list, but tell us, which are your favorite DC animated films? Let us know in the comments section!